751 20 70359 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, March 13, 2002 11:17 AM I would like to add my protest to this decision to discriminate once more against life partners of gays and lesbians. (see below) So, in the end, pretty much everyone who died - including people who aren't even American citizens and were living in the US illegally - will automatically be honored by the September 11th Fund as deserving of America's special recognition and thanks. The sole exception will be gay and lesbian Americans, because Feinberg and the 911 Fund wouldn't want to do anything contrary to US law. (Unless of course it involves an illegal alien who isn't even American - then apparently it's okay to bend the rules.) Individual Comment Tubac, AZ September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR000609.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. REGARDING PROPOSED COMPENSATION FUND -WTC Victims' Daughter To: Kenneth Zweck Hi, my name is (age: 23) and I am a family member of one of the victims of the World Trade Center Tragedy. My father, , was a for on the floor of the first hit tower. He leaves behind four children and a spouse. My purpose in writing this letter is to strongly state my frustration and anger regarding the proposed Compensation Fund proposed by Kenneth Feinberg and to seek representation for families in our situation. Since the events of Sept. 11th, it has been my family's unfortunate circumstance to be at a disadvantage when decisions are made regarding how much financial assistance our family should receive. The problem at hand is as follows: My fathers age (56) and low income status. While this may seem like it is not a problem, it has been turned into one. You see, because my father is older and makes less than "the average" individual that passed away, we have been placed into a formula that shows that we should receive 1/3rd of what, "on average", other families receive. This situation has been a constant obstacle since the events of September 11th. It began with the Red Cross and continued through to Feinbergs' proposed compensation fund. In proposing the fund, Feinberg states that he "will not play Solomon" in deciding the amounts that families should receive in regards to pain and suffering. What he fails to recognize is that that is exactly what he has done; however, in a different context. He does so in a context that poses advantages to the wealthier and younger individuals and neglects the fact that the older lower income employees died the same way. He gives consistent reference to his attempts to decrease the disparity of the fund when it comes to the income of the employee, but lower and older income families (again, both characteristic of my father) see NOTHING BUT DISPARITY. Everyone keeps talking about "United We Stand" and "equality" since Sept. 11th, but situations like this make me feel that there is none of that. If that in fact did exist, this problem wouldn't exist. As an article once read, " If a kid is thirsty, you give him a glass of water...you do not ask if he is a rich kid or a poor kid"! This fund places families at the lower end of the spectrum in situation where they feel compelled to accept whatever is given through the fund. What I mean by this is, take my mom for example, she is 47 years old and basically with no option but to accept the fund because a lawsuit would take 10-15 years to come to a conclusion, if not more. Assuming she did win a lawsuit, what is any financial compensation to her when she is on her 60's? Money means nothing to her at that age. At the same time a lawsuit would mean many years of financial struggle because we are of lower income. I feel that when this fund was being thought out, these stipulations were known and taken advantage of and so the result of it was offering less to families who would have almost no choice but to accept the fund. I fail to mention that it is almost ridiculous that IF my mom choices to accept this fund, she signs away her rights to sue with an "estimated assumption" of the total she will get from it. So, she won't even know exactly how much she is getting. Sadly enough, I am sure that there are lower income families who have seen this $1.6 million average publicized and have signed away to this fund under the sad assumption that that is what they will receive only to find out later that it is not. Later...and too late when they cannot change there minds or sue! Since Sept. 11th occurred and different funds were set up, lower income families have had no real direct voice or representation on their behalf. Many do not have the education or knowledge to know where to go, many do not speak English. Navigating the system is difficult! I myself have sent letters only to receive no response! We have no means to determining a good lawyer from a bad one and no direction as to where to go and vent our frustration. This is a problem. As I write this, I have been told that revisions are being made to the proposed fund. However again, the voices of those being heard when these revisions are being taken into consideration are the voices of the higher income families. It is those voices, of the families that possibly received between $150,000 - $350,000 of life insurance, that are listened to because those families do not want their life insurance deducted from the fund (another item of the fund which I disagree with). However, the cries of those who received little or no insurance go unheard. This can be because they are unspoken, again, as many families do not know where to go and state their frustration in these scenarios. My father had a life and a horrific tragic unimaginable death in the face of those terrorist attacks. He worked employees that made possibly 3 times the amount that he did. Should that even matter? Either way you look at it, while we all have differences in our lifestyles, we are all one in life and death. Why should my mother receive 1/3rd of "the average". It is a ridiculous and insulting concept to even set forth when considering what happened to each one of those individuals that passed away. This fund has been handled as if it were a lawsuit, taking lost wages and potential earning power into consideration. This is not a lawsuit nor is it a normal lawsuit scenario so my mind goes blank in wondering why it continues to be handled as one. To the best of my knowledge, the main purpose of the fund, contrary to what feinberg states is to attract the families so that the issues of security negligence (to name one) are not taken to court and jeopardizing the airline industry. Instead it does the opposite, angers and insults the families making them want to sign lawsuit papers even faster. I also find it insulting that it mentions the deduction of pensions, life insurance, and workmans' death benefits from the fund. My father worked 30 years of this hard life in the restaurant in order to receive petty $107 monthly estimate that will go to my mom. Again, 30 YEARS!!! Why should the concept of having what he worked hard for be taken from our potential benefit through this fund, despite how minimal or great the amount may be. Overall, I would like you to consider this; The higher income, more prestigious wealthier families affected by 9/11 are upset at what the fund offers them in light of the family member they lost. If they are complaining, just imagine how we feel being in this situation of constant neglect from organizations such as Red Cross and by this fund. In writing this, again, I hope to reach out and find representation for families in this situation such as ours. My anger is strong but yet I fell defenseless and at a dead end when it comes to seeking assistance in stating my views and concerns and making them known. Any assistance or advice you can offer me would be greatly appreciated. I will desperately await a response from you in regards to this crucial matter. I can be reached at the above address or at . Your time is greatly appreciated but more importantly, your help is greatly needed. Thank You and Regards. Individual Comment Bronx, NY September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-02-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002596.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-02-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Sunday, January 06, 2002 10:28 PM WTC COMP. I am against any compensation from taxpayer money.The entire country gave donations for the victims and families. Now the government is going to make these people millionaires. IT'S NOT RIGHT! Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001369.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 6:18 PM September 11 Victim Compensation Fund Regulation Comment Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs, Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: RE: Your department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge that the regulations ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It would be unconscionable to deny compensation to these families and their losses are no less than those suffered by others. It is shocking that any American would seek to deny any family what is rightfully due them. Just as the terrorists drew no lines in choosing their victims, our country must draw no lines in compensating those who suffered losses from these horrific attacks. Many Americans lost their lives on September 11, each of whom left behind loved ones. In the best spirit of the American way, I urge the Department treat every family the same. Sincerely, Individual Comment Maryville, TN September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA000440.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 18, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Cave Junction,OR September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA005418.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 14, 2001 12:34 PM Comments on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund November 14, 2001 VIA FACSIMILE Kenneth L. Zwick, Director Office of Management Programs Civil Division U.S. Department of Justice Main Building, Room 3140 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 Dear Mr. Zwick: I write to provide some thoughts on how the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 could be structured to assure its success. My perspective comes from the rapid resolution of claims arising out of several disasters, including the largest oil spill in the Port of Los Angeles, the division of settlement proceeds among several large groups of clients, and 20+ years of personal injury litigation experience for both plaintiffs and defendants. SPEEDY RESOLUTION OF CLAIMS The most valuable feature of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 is its potential for a speedy resolution of all claims. Rapid payment can make the Victim Compensation Fund superior to any other form of compensation, including tort litigation. Naturally, any compensation program that values a death or an injury will be imprecise. But the degree of acceptable imprecision will be much greater if the payments are made quickly. As such, the proposed implementation of "interim final rules" and the "waiver" of the 30-day effective date are essential to the success of this program. TRUST The non-adversarial character of this fund is also a critical feature in encouraging a speedy resolution. From my experience in settling 600 claims within 2 weeks of a major oil spill and all 2,000+ claims within 3 months, I know that trust is critical. It is hard to generate trust when parties believe their "opponent" is actively seeking an "adverse" outcome. To rapidly resolve the claims, claimants must believe we are all on the "same side of the table" and are all actively seeking the same fair outcome. FAIRNESS In distributing the Victim Compensation Fund, the "balancing factor" is not the interests of the government or an individual claimant's needs. The limits on an acceptable range of payments is an overall "fairness." How much each claimant should receive is governed by what is "fair" to all of the other claimants and the taxpayers of the United States government. "Fair" compensation must also reflect the compassion built into this compensation program that does not require proof of a liable, solvent, and available defendant. In other words, a higher or lower payment must be judged against consistent standards applied to all claimants in an overall just manner. SIMPLICITY To achieve the goals of a speedy and fair distribution, the program must be kept as simple as possible. While a tremendous amount of detailed information could be gathered for each claimant, greater detail will slow the process, diminishing the principal value of this program -- speed. BASIC INFORMATION With speed, fairness, and simplicity in mind, the following basic information should be gathered: (a) Identification of the Claimant. Each claimant should be required to provide his/her name, Social Security Number, date of birth, and contact information (address, telephone, fax, and e-mail). This should be coupled with the presentation of the claimant's government issued I.D. (e.g., driver's license) and proof of the claimant's eligibility to receive compensation (e.g., affidavit from an employer certifying the claimant's or decedent's presence at the affected area at the time of the tragedy, identification by the government of claimant's presence or decedent's death in the affected area at the time of the tragedy, medical records, death certificate, court order appointing claimant as a decedent's personal representative). This basic information will assure that the claimant is the right person to pay. (b) Past Income for Five Years. The claimant should provide his/her or the decedent's personal income for the past five years with proof in the form of tax returns or other acceptable economic information. If five years of income data is unavailable, the claimant should state why it is not possible to provide this information and offer substitute information. [Five years should reduce incentives for frivolous or fraudulent claims.] In addition, a personal representative on behalf of a decedent should provide the decedent's family's (or other dependents') total income for the same period and the source of that income. [This information will aid in the economic assessment of the amount of the decedent's income that should be attributed to the decedent's own consumption.] (c) Proof of Contribution. In the case of an unmarried decedent, there should be proof that a single decedent would have likely contributed to the support and care of others (e.g. parent, sibling, etc.) and the amount of that support, as shown by past conduct. The personal representative should also provide proof of the decedent's annual expenses for the past two years. [This is again an important factor in assessing the relative amount of expected consumption by the decedent.] Evidence of education, profession, licenses, and other indicators of future income would also be helpful. (d) Medical/Burial Expenses. To the extent the claimant has sustained medical or burial or other costs associated with the terrorist attacks, those amounts should be identified and documented. (e) Collateral Source Benefits. Each claimant should identify their entitlement to, or receipt of, any collateral source benefits from rights created before the September 11, 2001 (e.g. life insurance, medical insurance, unemployment compensation, social security benefits, pension funds, government benefit programs). Charitable payments and gifts received in the wake of the September 11th attack should not be considered. While it is unfair to consider any collateral source benefit (since it penalizes those who prepared and rewards those who did not prepare), the statute clearly requires deduction of collateral source benefit rights created before September 11. On the other hand, no one is "entitled" to pure charity and it would be difficult - practically and morally - to measure all of the charitable giving that a claimant may receive. As such, eliminating a deduction for charitable proceeds makes sense and would be a reasonable interpretation of the statute. (f) Dependents. Dependents (e.g. children, spouse, parents, etc.) should be identified by name, date of birth, and the special needs of any of the dependents. [This would again affect the ratio applied for the decedent's consumption.] (g) Other Information. Any other information that may be relevant to the appropriate amount of compensation should be provided as well with as much documentation as possible. To the extent stories about the family have been written in media publications (e.g. New York Times), the claimant may attach the article and state, under penalty of perjury, which portions of the article are true and correct. PERSONAL REPRESENTATION OF A DECEDENT The "personal representative" of a decedent should be designated by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. The identification of all heirs, the allocation of funds among heirs, and the legal effect of wills and trusts are too complex to be administered by the Victim Compensation Fund. The state courts could develop simplified procedures for processing "personal representative" appointments but the state courts should remain in control of probate issues. ELECTRONIC WRITTEN RECORDS As much as possible, the information gathered should be in writing and in electronic form. Claims could be started by entry on a web page, faxes, or calls into central phone banks (where electronic written records would be initiated for review and approval by the claimant). Centers could be set up for receiving paperwork and scanning the paperwork into each claimant's file. Central scanning would assure consistent procedures for digitizing paper documents. All of the information submissions should be made under penalty of perjury. RELEASE FORMS AND CROSS-CHECKS Release forms for documents from third party sources should be utilized to gather information for each claim. Computer cross-checks of payments to claimants should be conducted with other relief funds, insurers, employers, and government agencies to assure fair distribution of the Victim Compensation Fund. Release forms should be used to permit access to this information. ECONOMIC LOSS FORMULA An economic loss formula should be created by a group of economists that would allow the insertion of a claimant's basic financial data and a calculation of the claimant's total economic loss (medical/burial expenses, past lost income, future lost income/support, etc.). Total past loss up to the date of the claim are easy to calculate. Future loss, however, must be projected with an appropriate inflation factor and present value discount factor based on the difference between the claimant's past income and present income with appropriate adjustments for anticipated bonuses, promotions, and changed economic conditions. This will be a more difficult calculation that may need an economist's input to appropriately adjust the number for reasonably expected future changes. To the extent more complicated economic loss calculations must be performed, the government should retain forensic economists who can perform these calculations. At a minimum, these economists must have a bachelors degree in economics and experience in calculating wrongful death damages. CONSUMPTION FACTOR In the case of decedents, a consumption formula would need to be developed. This would be the amount of income that would have been consumed by the decedent had he/she lived. This factor will be affected by the total family income, total number and age of the decedent's dependents, and the special needs of any of the decedent's dependents. NON-ECONOMIC LOSS FORMULA A formula should also be developed for non-economic loss. This would be based on the claimant's or decedent's economic loss or other equivalent factors (e.g. parental claim for loss of support by unmarried child). Two different schedules should be created, one for injuries and another for deaths. Each of the schedules should be based on the total economic loss (or equivalent factors) incurred with a range that would permit adjustment for special situations (e.g., number of dependents, special needs, and other special circumstances). The formula should also be based on jury verdict experience in the affected areas. A single formula should be applied to all deaths. No formula will be perfect but a rough formula would assure a more even distribution of the Victim Compensation Fund, would speed resolution of the claims, and would appropriately acknowledge the compassion built into this no-fault program. For example, the non-economic loss injury schedule may be as follows: 1. For economic losses of $250 or less, non-economic loss will be $250 - $1,000. 2. For economic losses between $251 and $500, non-economic loss will be $500 - $1,500. 3. For economic losses between $500 and $1,000, non-economic loss will be $750 - $3,500. For deaths, the non-economic loss may be as follows: 1. For economic losses less than $25,000, non-economic loss will be $50,000 - $150,000. 2. For economic losses between $25,001 and $50,000, non economic losses will be $100,000 - $250,000. 3. For economic losses between $50,001 and $100,000, non-economic losses will be $250,000 - $400,000. These are not proposed numbers. The exact numbers should be arrived at by a consensus of the panel discussed below looking at actual jury verdicts and settlements. But a formula similar to the foregoing would allow claimants to quickly know exactly how much they will receive and would assure a relatively fair distribution among all claimants. Of course, there will be special cases that will not easily fit within this structure. As we all know, jury verdicts are driven by the unique facts of each case. Still, a general matrix will help organize the facts of each case into similar categories so that this program can efficiently serve most of the claimants on a speedy and fair basis. Moreover, the panel may decide to reduce the complexity of this program even further by awarding lump sums to different categories in light of the compassionate goals of this program. PANEL TO DECIDE FORMULAS AND CRITERIA A panel of expert forensic economists, personal injury lawyers (plaintiff and defense), potential claimants, and judges, should be convened to recommend: (1) the limitations on the location of eligible claimants; (2) the criteria for eligible injuries; (3) the information/documentation/forms required; (4) date of "filing"; (5) the hearing and appeal process; (6) the schedule of payments and criteria for payment; (7) the required qualifications for hearing officers, economists, and others who may be needed to evaluate the claims to be presented, and (8) the default state law to be applied (a single state's laws should be utilized to assure uniform application of the program; New York probably has the most developed law among the affected states). PANEL TO RECOMMEND PAYMENTS Several additional panels of economists, personal injury lawyers, judges, and interested lay people (not claimants) should be convened to advise the Special Master on specific payments in difficult cases and to provide the Special Master with recommended actions on appeals. "FILING" A claim should not be deemed "filed" until all of the information and paperwork has been received, the claimant has been deemed eligible for compensation, an initial compensation payment has been determined, and the claimant has accepted or appealed the compensation payment. It is unfair to force a claimant to forego litigation rights without knowing their eligibility or likely compensation. HEARING OFFICERS Hearing officers should be trained to help claimants file their claim. A background in claims adjustment, personal injury investigation, paralegal work, or law would be helpful. But the guidelines for the program should be specific enough to direct the hearing officer in gathering the information required and determining the amount to be paid in compensation. Since this is a non-adversarial process, the goal is to be on the "same-side-of-the-table" as the claimants and help claimants put together the information and paperwork to fairly compensate them for their loss. The hearing officers may be available in person, by phone or by e-mail. FIRST DETERMINATION I would recommend the following procedure for payment of claims: 1. The amount of compensation to be paid should be first recommended by the hearing officer assigned to a claimant. 2. The payment recommendation should be stated and justified in writing by reference to the schedule and formulas prepared for all claimants. 3. The recommendation should be approved by a supervisor and may require further approval by a panel for amounts in excess of $1 million. 4. The hearing officer should notify the claimant of the first determination (after appropriate approval or modification of the recommendation) within 10 days of a claimant's submission of all paperwork. 5. The hearing officer should then ask the claimant to choose to accept, appeal, or reject the compensation payment. If the claimant accepts, payment should be issued within one week. [If possible, payment should be issued immediately.] If the claimant appeals, the determination on the appeal must be made within 120 days. An appeal should be deemed a "filing" of the claim. If the claimant rejects the compensation payment, the claimant should be deemed not to have "filed" and may pursue other remedies. 6. The claimant should have 30 days within which to accept, appeal, or reject the compensation payment. Failure to act within 30 days of notification of the first determination will result in the compensation payment being deemed rejected. 7. Upon rejection, the claimant may reapply within the statutory two-year period but no new compensation figure will be calculated absent proof of new evidence and manifest injustice in the original computation determination. If new evidence and legitimate grounds for a finding of manifest injustice are presented to the satisfaction of the hearing officer, a new compensation figure may be calculated. APPEAL An appeal process for the assessed compensation payment should be provided. The appeal should be based on putting the claimant in a higher category (that can be justified as fair with respect to all other claimants). An appeal is a "filing" as defined by the statute. The appeal will be heard by a panel who will make a recommendation to the Special Master. The Special Master will make the final determination within 120 days of the appeal and may change procedures based on the appeal provided that the change consistently affects all who file (before and after the appeal). POST-PAYMENT ADJUSTMENTS Compensation payments to claimants may be adjusted upward upon a change in compensation policy after a claimant receives a payment. The payment will not be adjusted downward even if a later change in policy would have resulted in a lower compensation payment to a claimant who has already received their payment. [This will encourage early filing and allow for flexibility in the latter stages of the program.] ORAL RECORDINGS UNNECESSARY Oral recordings (other than claims submitted by phone) are unnecessary. The claim should be based upon the written submissions under penalty of perjury. Hearing officers may help claimants prepare the written submissions but it will be the written submissions that will govern the amount of the compensation payment. RAPID PAYMENT In order to encourage rapid resolution of all claims, the compensation payment should be issued as soon as a claimant accepts the calculated total payment and "files" his/her claim under penalty of perjury. Although the statute provides 120 days for evaluation of the claim and 20 days for payment upon determination of eligibility and the amount of payment, the central strength of this program is speed. This central strength will be diluted by any delay in payment and will not encourage early filing by potential claimants. [In the oil spill where we settled 600 claims in 2 weeks and all 2,000+ claims in 3 months, we paid within 24 hours of our damage assessment and immediately upon presentation of all necessary paperwork. This was a critical factor in the rapid resolution of all of the claims.] TAX LIABILITY PENALTY All claimants should agree upon filing of a claim that any false statements will result in an automatic tax liability to the federal government in a maximum amount ten times the excessive amount received by the false statement. The government will give the claimant notice before any assessment and give the claimant 60 days to show why the tax assessment should not be granted by a court of competent jurisdiction. The multiple should be adjusted depending upon the degree to which the false statement was knowing and intentional. The burden of proof should be on the claimant to show why the assessment should not issue. FEES Only fees and costs incurred by the government in processing and evaluating claims should be paid. No fees or costs incurred by a claimant should be paid. Each claimant may use their own consultants and lawyers but compensation for those services should not be imposed upon the government. SETTLEMENT WITH POTENTIAL DEFENDANTS To alleviate concerns about the collateral source rule, settlement should be achieved with the airlines and potential defendants (under the statute's subrogation rights) to pay differences that may be created by the statute's collateral source rules. PURPOSE OF FUND Finally, the Victim Compensation Fund should make its purpose clear. Liability, solvency, and the availability of a culpable defendant are not issues in this program. The program compassionately seeks to supplement existing rights of claimants to minimize the suffering caused by this tragedy. This compensation program will not be perfect and will not satisfy everyone. But it should strive to speedily and fairly help victims move forward so that all of us can begin to heal as quickly as possible. Again, speed is critical. I hope these comments are helpful. Very truly yours, Individual Comment Los Angeles, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojW000342.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-11-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 13, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Shingletown, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA001796.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Sunday, March 17, 2002 6:11 PM victim compensation To whom it may concern; If compensation is to be allocated to individuals, this should be fairly distributed. Penalising sections of the community because of lifestyle choices is divisive.. Haven't these victims suffered enough???? Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR001518.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Kenneth L. Zwick Director, Office of Management Programs Civil Division, US Dept of Justice Main Building 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 3/14/02 Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing to voice my concern over the exclusion of same-sex partners from the 9/11 Victims' Compensation Fund. This horrible tragedy was unprecedented and affected people from all walks of American society. All the affected deserve our help. Your administration has recognized that a compassionate and effective response will entail making certain exceptions to general U.S. policy on eligibility for public benefits, such as making compensation available to undocumented aliens (and protecting their employers from prosecution should such individuals come forward). Please make sure that ALL affected families and households receive the assistance they need to cope with this terrorist attack, whether the household was counting on the income of a brother or sister, an opposite-sex but unmarried partner, a same-sex partner, or a friend. Fair rules can be devised for assisting all families and households who were directly affected by this terrorist attack. Please don't use this as an opportunity to cut out or further marginalize people whose loss and grief is no less real because they are not heterosexual. was one of the heroes of 9/11. He helped bring down the plane that was probably headed for the U.S. Capitol. Senator McCain said of : "He supported me, and his support now ranks among the greatest honors of my life. I wish I had known before September 11 just how great an honor his trust in me was. I wish I could have thanked him for it more profusely than time and circumstances allowed. But I know it now." (Senator McCain, Eulogy for , September 22, 20001). was gay. Is our country going to welcome gays as heroes, but not support them as ordinary people? Sincerely yours, Individual Comment Sacramento, CA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR002914.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 04, 2001 4:30 PM Unity & Justice Dear Mr. Zwick: I am writing in response to the Department's request for public comments regarding the forthcoming regulations for implementing and administering the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund." I strongly urge the Department to draft regulations that ensure compensation is available to all victims of the attack, including the committed partners and the non-biological children of gay and lesbian victims. It is unquestionable that the devastating grief and economic losses suffered by the families of gay and lesbian victims are no less than that of other families. I hope and pray that the regulations you draft will be inclusive. To exclude families of gay and lesbian victims would needlessly and cruelly add to their suffering. Both patriotism and Christian compassion call for inclusion not exclusion in this time of national distress. I will keep you and your important task in my thoughts and prayers. My God bless you, your colleagues and your families. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA000361.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Tuesday, December 18, 2001 11:51 AM Protect Traditional Marriage Mr. Kenneth Zwick Office of Management Programs Department of Justice Washington. DC Dear Mr. Zwick: I want to express my opposition to any effort by the federal government to provide 9-11 victim compensation funds to "domestic partners" of unmarried survivors of the terrorist attack upon our nation. Funds disbursed through the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 should only go to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11. Funds must go to the widows, widowers, orphans, and other blood-related or adopted members of the family--not to unmarried sexual partners of those who died. To provide funds to "domestic partners" is to undermine the traditional definition of marriage and family to include any number of sexual liaisons between same-sex or opposite-sex unmarried couples. Many homosexuals and swinging heterosexuals, for example, engage in sex with multiple partners. Do we provide funds to each of the sexual partners? Where do we draw the line on how many "domestic partners" a person may have?Homosexual activists are exploiting the 9-11 tragedy by asking the federal government to redefine what constitutes a legitimate "family" under the law. In fact, homosexual activist &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp , writing in Out magazine has openly called for the subversion of the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. He has urged homosexuals to fight for the legalization of homosexual marriages and once legalized to "redefine the institution of marriage completely . . . . to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution. . . . The most subversive action lesbians and gays can under take--and one that would perhaps benefit all of society--is to transform the notion of 'family' entirely." If the DOJ provides funds to "domestic partners," it will be helping &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp accomplish his goal: That of redefining marriage and altering what he calls an "archaic institution." We also oppose September 11th Funds going to the estates of the deceased instead of to their surviving family members. No one can know for certain where these funds will end up if they are deposited in the estate of a person who has died. The person may have willed his estate to a terrorist, racial hate group, or even to an organization like the North American Man-Boy Love Association. No one will know unless each person's will is examined by a DOJ lawyer. The money should go to the surviving family members of the deceased, not to the estate or to the surviving "domestic partner." Individual Comment Elon, NC September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA002132.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-18 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. December 15, 2001 Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg September 11th Victim Compensation Fund U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 To Mr. Feinberg: I am writing to urge you to ensure fair treatment for all surviving families of the tragedy on September 11th, including the children and families of low-wage workers and gay and lesbian families. Under traditional rules based on lost wages, the survivors of a bond trader earning millions of dollars per year might receive thousands of times as much compensation as the survivors of a dishwasher in one of the restaurants destroyed. Justice requires looking far beyond the last paycheck to the inherent worth of all those killed, so that a high minimum compensation level is set to lessen the disparities. It would be a double blow to the survivors to first lose their loved one and then watch as most of the taxpayer money went to those who were already well off in the first place. The second major issue has to do with recognizing the legitimacy of gay and lesbian relationships and families. Gay and lesbian families are especially vulnerable when one partner is killed. Because the option of marriage is unavailable, these families may find themselves in the traumatic predicament of having to prove that their union is legitimate. Fortunately, both the Red Cross and the State of New York have already announced that they will not discriminate against gay and lesbian families. The Department of Justice should do the same. Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to hearing how you will act on these very important issues. Sincerely, Individual Comment Colorado Springs, CO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA004979.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-15 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 2:57 PM families of 9/11 - help! December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Philadelphia, PA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003428.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. 9 January 2002 To our Elected Officials: In the immediate aftermath of the tragic attack of September 11th upon our nation, Congress enacted the Victims' Compensation Fund of 2001 P.L. 107-42, to compensate the relatives of the victims of that brutal attack. As you know, this Fund was enacted as part of a comprehensive package which bailed out the airlines industry and imposed restrictions on the rights of the victims' relatives to sue the airlines in court. We implore upon you, as our elected officials, to demand changes to the interim rules issued by Kenneth Feinberg, the Special Master. As it stands, Mr. Feinberg's self-imposed rules fail to satisfy the letter or the spirit of the legislation which was enacted. Specifically, we request that you act on our behalf and demand the following changes to the interim rules: 1. The arbitrary income limits imposed by the Special Master are not only unfair but also inconsistent with the letter and the spirit of the law. Those victims from the financial industry are specifically harmed by this limit. They were targeted and murdered precisely because of the jobs they held, and where they worked-the World Trade Center, the Financial Capital of the world, the embodiment of financial success. Those who achieved such success should see that reflected in their awards. They personified American Business and commerce, democracy and freedom. We ask that you demand that Mr. Feinberg lift the arbitrary income limits so that each family can be treated fairly, commensurate with the support they provided their families before their death. 2. Mr. Feinberg has arbitrarily restricted the non-economic awards for pain and suffering, no matter what the extent of the pain and suffering. This is unacceptable. In the words of Rep. Peter King, "...every death is tragic, A murder is particularly tragic. But to have your loved one murdered in a burning building in full view of the world - in a scene which will be repeated in the media for decades to come-is a horror these families will never escape form... The Special Master cannot take it upon himself to restrict the rights of the families." Therefore, we request that the interim rules be amended to more appropriately compensate the victims' families for the immeasurable pain and suffering endured by our loved ones. As Mayor Giuliani stated in his farewell address: "we have an obligation to the people who did die... Their families need to be protected just as if they had been alive, financially and every other way that we can help and assist their families...There should be no compromise account that ever..."We request that the interim rules be amended and redefined to the extent that income caps be removed when computing economic loss and that compensation for pain and suffering more accurately reflect that horror which was suffered. Justice demands no less. Sincerely, Individual Comment Bronx, N.Y. September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-31 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002462.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-31 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 11:11 AM Crisis Relief Benefits Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, As a member of Amnesty International, I am writing to you today to ask that the benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund be distributed fairly and evenly to all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. Please apply the general principle of equality when distributing these funds, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already stated in their policy that they support granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Obviously, many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, some lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had difficulty obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. Please see that all the victims' families (traditional or not) are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. Sincerely, Individual Comment Denver, CO September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003073.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Sunday, March 17, 2002 4:43 PM Concerning the Victim's Fund Illegal aliens are promised that they can stay in the country, due to the deaths that many suffered from the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Unborn children are promised aid. The official stand was that a few laws could be broken in order to help all who suffered the attack. That's a hypocritical statement. Just because gays and lesbians aren't UNDER THE LAW FOR CONTRACTUALLY UNIONS, they don't get ANYTHING? Yet, illegal aliens who should have been deported DO? Hypocritical. UnAmerican. And stupid. If you're going to make a thing about not giving money to the partners of gays and lesbians, then the little, innocous statement about how 'it's okay to break a couple of laws for the OTHERS, just not the HOMOSEXUALS.' Sincerly, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojR001487.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-03-17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, December 19, 2001 4:27 PM Crisis relief for glbt people December 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Kenneth Zwick, I write as a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights movement committed to ensuring respect for the basic human rights of people without discrimination, in support of equal access to benefits under the September 11 Victims Relief Fund for all victims, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status. As you know, the United States has committed to uphold international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit arbitrary discrimination. As you consider rules for administering the relief fund, I ask that you apply basic international human rights standards, and the general principle of equality, by including among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners, as well as de facto parents or children, without regard to sexual orientation or marital status. The State of New York has already adopted such a policy, granting compensation benefits "on a showing of mutual interdependence with the victim, in recognition that anyone who shared with the victim living expenses, day to day activities and the emotional bonds of family deserves help in this time of need." Many lesbian and gay people were killed in the September 11th attacks. Since then, lesbian and gay surviving partners of those killed have had mixed results in obtaining equal treatment at the local level in the distribution of relief funds by private and state agencies. An inclusive policy on the part of the federal government would help establish an important principle for other such funds. In compensating victims, real justice will be served only when all families - and all types of families - impacted by the human rights tragedy of September 11 are treated with dignity and equality. Thank you for considering my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you about your efforts to ensure that all surviving victims of the September 11 attacks have equal access to the relief fund. Sincerely, Individual Comment Mishawaka, IN September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA003534.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Thursday, December 27, 2001 10:46 AM comments on interim rule and request for a meeting The enclosed comments are submitted with respect to the interim rule. My wife was one of those who was on the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon. I recognize that many difficult issues have to be handled by a limited number of people, but I request some indication of when whether or not I may receive some response to the items raised...even if your response must initially be incomplete. In addition, I am responding to the Special Master's statement that meetings would be available with individuals. Most of my comments are with respect to others and do not pertain to me. However, I do need some guidance on how to proceed with the life insurance claim noted in the comments. Separately from an individual meeting, the Special Master also indicated that he would come back to the Sheraton and other places to answer questions. I request that you let me know when such meetings will take place and that you post such information on the WEB site (even an indication that it will be posted would be helpful). Finally, my e-mail carrier is going down and will change my home e-mail, so please "respond to all" so that I receive your response both here at home and at work. Thank you for your consideration. Attachment 1: COMMENTS ON INTERIM RULE I have several comments about the interim final rule. Almost all of these comments relate to lack of information and an interpretation that in my view tends to penalize moderate-income people who save - in particular, the military - vis-à-vis higher income people who do not save. Except where specifically noted, none have application to my own circumstances as husband of one of the victims, and, in any case, my family has pledged to make any money of this type available to charity anyway. I. Incorrect Reporting of 98th Percentile of the Wage Distribution and a Possible Effect on the Distribution of Funds One complication is caused by statements that lead the reader to believe that some money is being applied to families with less income by cutting off the maximum award at the 98th percentile of the wage distribution. But the numbers cited for the 98th percentile of the wage distribution are well above that figure. It appears that the Special Masters office is using a measure of adjusted gross income for families rather than wage income for individuals in setting this figure. There is no perfect measure of this number but an appropriate figure can be found by contacting the Social Security Administration for wage distributions. An example of a wage distribution table is attached, implying that the 98th percentile was a little less than $125,000 in 2000, a bit above that if adjusted for income growth to 2001. The Special Masters office can also contact the Office of Tax Analysis at the Treasury to help it approximate the number it needs. However, by overstating substantially the 98th percentile in the wage distribution, the office may have inadvertently increased compensation to higher-income individuals relative to minimums it could have set for lower income individuals. II. Treatment of Savings in Pensions The interim rule is extraordinarily barren in detail on how to treat pensions and life insurance. Clarification is clearly needed. My comments here are not meant to reflect problems with the laws requirement to count pensions - there may be objections here, too, but that problem can be amended only through legislation -- but rather with the failure of the interim rule to give much more detail on how collateral source deductions will be calculated. RELEVANT CITES FROM THE STATUTE: COLLATERAL SOURCE. The term `collateral source' means all collateral sources, including life insurance, pension funds, death benefit programs, and payments by Federal, State, or local governments related to the terrorist-related aircraft terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001 [emphasis added]. COLLATERAL COMPENSATION. The Special Master shall reduce the amount of compensation determined under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) by the amount of the collateral source compensation the claimant has received or is entitled to receive as a result of the terrorist-related aircraft terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001 [emphasis added]. As I read the law, the pension offsets should apply to funds that resulted form the terrorist-related aircraft crashes. While the rule does not provide guidance, the Special Master did state at a Sheraton meeting that Thrift Savings Plans pension savings would not be treated as collateral source compensation. The Thrift Savings plan is a defined contribution type of pension or "profit sharing" plan where individuals deposit money over time. The money is theirs regardless of any incident like death. Following this logic, it appears that the rule should state: (1) If individuals already have deposits (defined contribution plans such as Thrift Savings Plan, IRAs, Keoghs, TIAA-CREF, money purchase, profit sharing, 401(k)), this money clearly does not result from the terrorist-related aircraft crashes since the money is available independently. Therefore, it would not be treated as a collateral source offset any more than would other saving. (2) In the case of defined benefit pension plans (DBs), the issue is much more complex. Many individuals have accrued benefits that are independent of the airplane crash. For example, a military person might be entitled to a pension because she has served 20 years anyway, so the only pension that might be considered as collateral source would be that pension that was over and above benefits already accrued (zero in some cases). In other cases there are clear paths for determining accrued benefits to date. In effect, to determine the collateral source pension, a simple method - but one with some problems as noted below -- might be to take the present value of benefits to be received and subtract the present value of benefits accrued to date. The latter clearly involves money not really resulting from the terrorist-related airline terrorist-related aircraft crashes. (3) Unfortunately the issue gets more complex still. Many DBs have a very strange structure of accruals, depending upon length of service. In some cases, there is cliff vesting. Anyone not having served enough years to reach that cliff, however, could still be treated as having accrued a benefit roughly equal to what the actuaries would calculate had to be put aside to cover that persons service. These actuarial calculations take into account the probability that a person will stay on long enough. For example, if a person has an 80 percent chance of lasting from year 4 to 5 in a pension plan with 5-year vesting, then actuaries will determine that enough money needs to be put aside long before year 5 (e.g., in this case roughly 80 percent times the accrual that would be present after 4 years if there were not such cliff vesting). (4) But the latter calculation is still not sufficient either. It runs into the problem that someone who would stay with the firm extra years would sometimes accrue at a very fast rate. An extreme example is someone who is with a firm 4 years and 11 months and technically has no accrued benefits, but at 5 years receives a big spike in benefits reflecting all the past 5 years. Another example is a military person who has served 15 years, who has no accrued benefits, but would get a big spike at 20 years. In a private plan, the accrual rate from age 45 to 55 or 60 can also be very steep - so much so that the actuaries again try to create a level funding method to avoid low funding (at earlier ages) followed by very high funding rates (at later ages). The complication is caused by the fact that an additional year on the job in typical DB plans not only adds another year of benefits, but multiplies up the value of all previous years benefits (hence creating an exponential growth effect). One really needs to look at individuals circumstances and make appropriate adjustments. If a military or other person clearly is going to stay on to get vested benefits, then past accruals do not really determine well the value of the pension benefit to that person. Once again, it is incumbent on the office of the Special Master to provide information on how these matters will be handled. III. Social Security Many claimants were eligible for Social Security benefits, which they will now not receive. These benefits represent an economic loss. They represent a loss of a benefit to the family that is not discussed in the document. IV. Life Insurance (1) If life insurance includes a saving component, then like DC pension plans, that saving component is clearly not increased as result of the terrorist-related aircraft crashes. (2) In some cases, the life insurance amount may be in dispute. For instance, I am in the midst of a claim with an underwriter for American Airlines who provided travel insurance for purchase of a ticket for my wife. This underwriter now has a tremendous incentive to continue to dispute or otherwise avoid my claim, and the interim rule has put me into a bind since this claim may be greater than the value of any money from the victim compensation fund - thus throwing me back into the regular court system which, it was my understanding, the fund was trying to avoid. Relevant Cite: [CIVIL ACTIONS PERMISSIBLE]. Upon the submission of a claim under this title, the claimant waives the right to file a civil action (or to be a party to an action) in any Federal or State court for damages sustained as a result of the terrorist-related aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001. The preceding sentence does not apply to a civil action to recover collateral source obligations. (3) Point (3) also raises the issue of whether collateral source income is net or gross of legal fees. The interim rule is unclear (i.e., is the rule compensation award less collateral insurance less legal fees?). Clarification is required. V. Adult Children of Claimant: The Special Master claimed in a session that he is not Solomon and cannot distinguish between the claim of someone who is aged 10 and someone who is aged 20. Yet the interim rule arbitrarily cuts off entirely someone who is 21 years plus 366 days versus someone who is 21 years and 365 days, or someone who moved out of dependency status on September 10 versus someone who did not move out until September 12. (The distinction apparently applies with respect to noneconomic loss.) The law does not require this type of distinction, and one wonders about its propriety. Attachment 2: 100% Tabulation of All Workers with All Wage Compensation Greater Than Zero in Calendar Year 2000 (Source:SSA's Master Earnings File, as of 10/13/01) Cumulative Cumulative Cumulative % Cumulative Cumulative Wage intervals workers Cumulative % compensation of taxable wages % of taxable (millions) of workers ($ millions) compensation ($ millions) wages _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ < 5,000 27.395 18.50 56,233 1.27 70,623 1.54 < 10,000 43.426 29.32 174,409 3.94 193,204 4.22 < 15,000 57.734 38.98 351,878 7.94 374,633 8.18 < 20,000 71.516 48.28 590,433 13.33 616,884 13.47 < 25,000 84.368 56.96 874,947 19.75 906,855 19.80 < 30,000 95.784 64.67 1,182,041 26.68 1,221,054 26.66 < 35,000 105.547 71.26 1,490,724 33.65 1,537,694 33.57 < 40,000 113.614 76.71 ,783,549 40.26 1,837,694 40.12 < 45,000 120.173 81.14 2,051,917 46.32 2,112,399 46.11 < 50,000 125.343 84.63 2,287,237 51.63 2,353,368 51.37 < 55,000 129.472 87.41 2,494,213 56.30 2,565,313 56.00 < 60,000 132.694 89.59 2,670,346 60.28 2,745,641 59.94 < 65,000 135.249 91.31 2,821,831 63.70 2,901,084 63.33 < 70,000 137.268 92.68 2,950,840 66.61 3,034,026 66.23 < 75,000 138.879 93.77 3,061,252 69.10 3,148,233 68.73 < 80,000 140.197 94.65 3,157,742 71.28 3,248,381 70.91 < 85,000 141.251 95.37 3,239,869 73.13 3,333,806 72.78 < 90,000 142.096 95.94 3,309,764 74.71 3,406,581 74.37 < 95,000 142.799 96.41 3,371,224 76.10 3,470,772 75.77 < 100,000 143.380 96.80 3,424,841 77.31 3,526,879 76.99 < 105,000 143.877 97.14 3,473,095 78.40 3,577,497 78.10 < 110,000 144.287 97.42 3,514,826 79.34 3,621,215 79.05 < 115,000 144.638 97.65 3,552,277 80.18 3,660,516 79.91 < 120,000 144.935 97.85 3,585,488 80.93 3,695,404 80.67 < 125,000 145.205 98.04 3,616,977 81.64 3,728,435 81.39 < 130,000 145.432 98.19 3,644,607 82.27 3,757,439 82.03 < 135,000 145.631 98.32 3,669,710 82.83 3,783,770 82.60 < 140,000 145.804 98.44 3,692,376 83.35 3,807,543 83.12 < 145,000 145.959 98.54 3,713,470 83.82 3,829,711 83.60 < 150,000 146.096 98.64 3,732,884 84.26 3,850,151 84.05 < 155,000 146.226 98.73 3,751,922 84.69 3,870,155 84.49 < 160,000 146.340 98.80 3,769,130 85.08 3,888,202 84.88 < 165,000 146.446 98.87 3,785,729 85.45 3,905,635 85.26 < 170,000 146.540 98.94 3,800,737 85.79 3,921,372 85.60 < 175,000 146.634 99.00 3,816,467 86.15 3,937,898 85.96 < 180,000 146.713 99.05 3,829,979 86.45 3,952,043 86.27 < 185,000 146.787 99.10 3,842,945 86.74 3,965,622 86.57 < 190,000 146.852 99.15 3,854,661 87.01 3,977,884 86.84 < 195,000 146.912 99.19 3,865,871 87.26 3,989,593 87.09 < 200,000 146.969 99.23 3,876,731 87.51 4,000,998 87.34 < 250,000 147.360 99.49 3,961,089 89.41 4,089,153 89.27 < 300,000 147.573 99.63 4,017,766 90.69 4,148,177 90.56 < 350,000 147.703 99.72 4,058,810 91.62 4,190,961 91.49 < 400,000 147.788 99.78 4,090,122 92.32 4,223,411 92.20 < 450,000 147.848 99.82 4,115,213 92.89 4,249,475 92.77 < 500,000 147.892 99.85 4,135,527 93.35 4,270,546 93.23 < 1,000,000 148.042 99.95 4,235,030 95.60 4,373,905 95.48 < 1,500,000 148.074 99.97 4,273,769 96.47 4,414,415 96.37 < 2,000,000 148.087 99.98 4,296,308 96.98 4,437,940 96.88 < 2,500,000 148.095 99.99 4,312,512 97.34 4,455,232 97.26 < 3,000,000 148.099 99.99 4,324,261 97.61 4,467,579 97.53 < 3,500,000 148.102 99.99 4,333,906 97.83 4,477,997 97.76 < 4,000,000 148.104 99.99 4,341,650 98.00 4,486,193 97.93 < 4,500,000 148.106 99.99 4,348,752 98.16 4,493,704 98.10 < 5,000,000 148.107 100.00 4,354,508 98.29 4,499,807 98.23 < 10,000,000 148.112 100.00 4,388,457 99.06 4,537,276 99.05 < 20,000,000 148.113 100.00 4,406,003 99.45 4,556,783 99.48 < 50,000,000 148.114 100.00 4,420,018 99.77 4,571,809 99.80 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Total 148.114 100.00 4,430,172 100.00 4,580,819 100.00 Notes: All wage compensation equals total wage compensation plus deferred comp less distributions from deferred comp. Taxable wages include all wages subject to OASDI or Medicare tax. 100% Count on 10/13/01 Table 3. Distribution of wage earners by all compensation, for persons with all compensation greater than zero in 2000 Amount of all Number of persons Deferred compensation Total compensation Amount of taxable compensation contributions less distributions earnings ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ $0.01 to $4,999.99 27,394,588 $90,038,527.34 $56,233,481,594.23 $70,622,890,534.49 5,000.00 to 9,999.99 16,031,223 $375,659,188.81 $118,175,378,261.84 $122,581,486,261.72 10,000.00 to 14,999.99 14,308,143 $987,167,243.46 $177,468,670,785.60 $181,429,044,709.59 15,000.00 to 19,999.99 13,782,493 $2,248,800,729.25 $238,555,406,042.25 $242,250,599,061.78 20,000.00 to 24,999.99 12,851,720 $4,119,726,883.59 $284,514,535,855.17 $289,970,841,731.91 25,000.00 to 29,999.99 11,416,289 $6,047,699,485.72 $307,093,633,128.41 $314,199,600,779.09 30,000.00 to 34,999.99 9,762,890 $7,713,851,735.92 $308,683,325,912.94 $316,639,659,276.50 35,000.00 to 39,999.99 8,066,599 $8,978,715,053.63 $292,824,312,892.76 $299,999,593,146.94 40,000.00 to 44,999.99 6,559,310 $9,713,852,600.98 $268,368,354,953.84 $274,705,044,377.37 45,000.00 to 49,999.99 5,169,446 $9,694,633,714.24 $235,319,577,871.75 $240,968,862,359.49 50,000.00 to 54,999.99 4,129,657 $9,381,922,096.20 $206,976,164,018.04 $211,945,240,339.73 55,000.00 to 59,999.99 3,221,160 $8,737,049,427.85 $176,133,425,489.04 $180,328,297,066.94 60,000.00 to 64,999.99 2,555,108 $7,895,731,075.73 $151,484,739,938.75 $155,442,679,059.55 65,000.00 to 69,999.99 2,019,298 $7,074,189,636.98 $129,008,527,500.51 $132,942,590,560.91 70,000.00 to 74,999.99 1,611,481 $6,254,592,341.28 $110,412,853,363.15 $114,206,264,906.64 75,000.00 to 79,999.99 1,317,583 $5,490,428,836.59 $96,490,033,496.93 $100,147,845,419.66 80,000.00 to 84,999.99 1,053,813 $4,712,781,567.97 $82,126,920,050.26 $85,425,802,489.55 85,000.00 to 89,999.99 845,629 $4,017,506,471.65 $69,894,527,051.67 $72,775,011,408.61 90,000.00 to 94,999.99 702,818 $3,478,747,696.12 $61,460,253,168.10 $64,191,026,253.02 95,000.00 to 99,999.99 581,163 $2,998,798,567.86 $53,617,202,376.87 $56,106,183,695.90 100,000.00 to 104,999.99 496,833 $2,615,876,853.32 $48,254,162,752.27 $50,618,194,696.00 105,000.00 to 109,999.99 409,497 $2,262,733,194.95 $41,730,083,186.08 $43,718,124,425.76 110,000.00 to 114,999.99 350,850 $1,988,264,036.71 $37,451,438,731.08 $39,301,575,102.45 115,000.00 to 119,999.99 297,483 $1,724,206,764.99 $33,210,534,570.22 $34,887,905,064.72 120,000.00 to 124,999.99 269,917 $1,531,472,731.64 $31,489,062,023.85 $33,030,247,328.96 125,000.00 to 129,999.99 227,488 $1,355,837,678.04 $27,630,101,025.92 $29,004,795,295.07 130,000.00 to 134,999.99 198,642 $1,193,360,778.63 $25,103,450,457.25 $26,330,119,165.96 135,000.00 to 139,999.99 172,698 $1,064,961,340.46 $22,665,946,881.65 $23,773,239,162.29 140,000.00 to 144,999.99 154,806 $953,126,441.87 $21,094,328,462.53 $22,168,350,263.43 145,000.00 to 149,999.99 137,494 $862,030,824.31 $19,414,006,850.74 $20,439,425,559.54 150,000.00 to 154,999.99 130,185 $791,525,616.57 $19,037,971,138.74 $20,004,303,321.87 155,000.00 to 159,999.99 113,830 $712,417,800.89 $17,207,995,758.73 $18,047,410,170.90 160,000.00 to 164,999.99 106,253 $649,172,417.13 $16,598,871,988.03 $17,432,668,188.86 165,000.00 to 169,999.99 93,149 $590,511,817.69 $15,007,587,515.88 $15,737,110,305.12 170,000.00 to 174,999.99 94,578 $561,893,611.20 $15,729,791,806.42 $16,525,883,405.01 175,000.00 to 179,999.99 79,002 $501,304,766.84 $13,512,652,089.92 $14,145,230,412.79 180,000.00 to 184,999.99 73,641 $462,746,543.36 $12,965,838,014.05 $13,579,211,344.38 185,000.00 to 189,999.99 64,747 $419,803,670.17 $11,715,705,881.16 $12,261,889,834.26 190,000.00 to 194,999.99 60,277 $389,645,549.40 $11,210,314,739.92 $11,708,786,345.10 195,000.00 to 199,999.99 56,859 $369,160,507.69 $10,859,506,833.42 $11,404,515,593.14 200,000.00 to 249,999.99 391,377 $2,532,583,828.55 $84,358,197,276.63 $88,155,394,591.60 250,000.00 to 299,999.99 213,087 $1,385,387,493.47 $56,676,770,094.65 $59,024,556,472.25 300,000.00 to 349,999.99 129,769 $839,027,399.55 $41,044,396,402.66 $42,783,613,804.47 350,000.00 to 399,999.99 85,385 $552,121,486.80 $31,311,526,509.03 $32,449,768,336.07 400,000.00 to 449,999.99 60,196 $388,937,253.64 $25,090,986,749.92 $26,064,304,316.67 450,000.00 to 499,999.99 43,486 $282,893,115.19 $20,314,513,979.87 $21,070,992,649.16 500,000.00 to 999,999.99 149,837 $1,008,585,665.49 $99,502,739,292.78 $103,359,254,880.95 1,000,000.00 to 1,499,999.99 32,341 $237,163,796.03 $38,739,653,733.18 $40,509,861,436.57 1,500,000.00 to 1,999,999.99 13,174 $100,359,859.95 $22,538,815,495.45 $23,524,636,081.75 2,000,000.00 to 2,499,999.99 7,309 $56,734,891.80 $16,203,366,376.38 $17,292,314,756.19 2,500,000.00 to 2,999,999.99 4,316 $37,470,699.05 $11,749,439,259.31 $12,346,642,003.55 3,000,000.00 to 3,499,999.99 2,992 $25,112,320.90 $9,644,505,272.69 $10,418,345,916.04 3,500,000.00 to 3,999,999.99 2,075 $15,398,727.15 $7,743,995,157.39 $8,196,118,263.55 4,000,000.00 to 4,499,999.99 1,679 $12,771,538.12 $7,102,348,842.66 $7,510,459,206.00 4,500,000.00 to 4,999,999.99 1,217 $9,946,653.57 $5,755,650,600.33 $6,103,186,379.65 5,000,000.00 to 9,999,999.99 5,009 $43,217,853.39 $33,949,195,047.85 $37,469,197,734.62 10,000,000.00 to 19,999,999.99 1,313 $13,937,947.32 $17,545,818,469.90 $19,506,567,979.12 20,000,000.00 to 49,999,999.99 475 $4,541,174.85 $14,015,176,745.91 $15,025,906,169.50 50,000,000.00 or more 91 $628,605.42 $10,154,606,931.87 $9,010,350,187.69 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Total 148,113,768 $138,558,766,137.27 $4,430,172,376,698.43 $4,580,819,019,590.40 Individual Comment Alexandria, VA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-12-27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN001176.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-12-27 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Wednesday, November 28, 2001 12:58 PM Families of 9/11 victims fund Dear Mr. Zwick, Please include those who lost their life partners, parents, and children, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status among relatives eligible for compensation. Everyone who lost loved ones in the attacks of September 11 is suffering, and it is extremely cruel to deny some family members recognition of their losses and compensation because their partner was of the same gender, they did not have legally recognized connections to the children that they had parented and lost, or because they lost a parent who did not have legal parenthood because same-gender partners are not jointly legally recognized as parents. Out of compassion and fairness, please provide compensation to everyone who lost family members in the attacks. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Individual Comment September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2001-11-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojA000072.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2001-11-28 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Department of Justice Emails Description An account of the resource The Department of Justice received more than 11,000 e-mails in response to the agency's public solicitation for comments upon its plans to distribute the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 established by Congress to benefit the victims of September 11 and their families. These e-mails have been organized here by date. September 11 Email September 11 Email: Body The basic content, as unstructured text; sometimes containing a signature block at the end. Monday, January 21, 2002 8:27 PM Include natural parents in the pain and sufferring compensation formula The pain and suffering component of the VCF should be increased by $50, 000 for each surviving natural parent. The current definition of family is unduly restrictive and will cause un-necessary heartaches in many families. My bother &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp was killed in the terrorist attack on the WTC on Sept 11. At the time of his death, he was living alone in &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp with our mother, &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp who is 92 years old, although he had married in January 2001. My mother depended on &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp for physical support, emotional support and financial support. Their finances were very interterwined holding some credit cards and bank accounts jointly. &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp death has left my mother with bills she can hardly cope with. The proposed regulations for the Victims' Compensation Fund does not address this situation at all. My brother was about $150 000 in debt and as most debts are not being kept current by my sister-in-law, my mother receives dunning statements when the debts are reassigned to her as the guarantor. This increases the her hardship and bitterness. It looks like between the NY State intestate laws and the VCF, my mother or any other members of the family will receive no compensation for &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp death unless the VCF formula is changed to specifically include natural parents. The pain and suffering component of the VCF should be increased by $50, 000 for each surviving parent. Can I discuss this with anyone? Individual Comment Newtonville MA September 11 Email: Date The local time and date when the message was written. 2002-01-21 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource dojN002194.xml 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. full Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. email Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-01-21